dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2021-39358

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.2.4 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In GNOME libgfbgraph through 0.2.4, gfbgraph-photo.c does not enable TLS certificate verification on the SoupSessionSync objects it creates, leaving users vulnerable to network MITM attacks. NOTE: this is similar to CVE-2016-20011.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The GNOME libgfbgraph library (through version 0.2.4) fails to enable TLS certificate verification on SoupSessionSync objects created in gfbgraph-photo.c. This allows attackers on the network path to perform MITM attacks by intercepting and tampering with encrypted connections without detection.

MitigationUpgrade libgfbgraph to a version that enables TLS certificate verification by default, or patch the code to ensure SoupSessionSync objects verify TLS certificates before accepting connections.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 33= 34= 35
LibgfbgraphApplication
Affected:<= 0.2.4

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if libgfbgraph is installed
    On Fedora systems, run: rpm -qa | grep -i gfbgraph or dpkg -l | grep -i gfbgraph on Debian-based systems. Also check for library files in /usr/lib/ or /usr/lib64/ directories.
    Affected if The library is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed version of libgfbgraph
    Run: rpm -qi libgfbgraph or pkg-config --modversion gfbgraph-0.2 to retrieve the exact version number.
    Affected if The version is 0.2.4 or lower, or the package is from Fedora 33, 34, or 35 with any version
  3. Locate and inspect gfbgraph-photo.c source code
    If source code is available, locate gfbgraph-photo.c and search for 'SoupSessionSync' to find where the SoupSessionSync object is created.
    Affected if The code creates a SoupSessionSync without calling methods that enable TLS certificate verification (such as setting tls-database or similar TLS-related properties)
  4. Check if applications use libgfbgraph for network operations
    Identify applications linked against libgfbgraph by running: ldd /path/to/application | grep gfbgraph or checking application dependencies.
    Affected if Applications use libgfbgraph to make network requests (such as accessing photo services)

The system is affected if libgfbgraph version 0.2.4 or lower is installed AND applications use the library to make network connections without additional TLS verification layers.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 0.2.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade libgfbgraph to a version that enables TLS certificate verification by default, or patch the code to ensure SoupSessionSync objects verify TLS certificates before accepting connections.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

libgfbgraph > 0.2.4 (a version with TLS certificate verification enabled in gfbgraph-photo.c)

  1. 1. Check the current installed version of libgfbgraph: rpm -q libgfbgraph or dpkg -l | grep libgfbgraph
  2. 2. Verify TLS certificate validation is disabled in the library by reviewing gfbgraph-photo.c source code for SoupSessionSync usage
  3. 3. Upgrade to a newer version of libgfbgraph that has TLS verification enabled
  4. 4. After upgrade, verify the fix is applied by reviewing the updated source code to confirm SoupSessionSync now validates certificates
  5. 5. Test applications using libgfbgraph to ensure TLS connections work properly with valid certificates
Caveat Applications relying on the previous insecure behavior (connecting to servers with invalid/missing certificates) may fail after the fix; ensure all target servers have valid TLS certificates

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,920
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-39358 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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